Continuous action centrifuge



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. E. JACOBY CONTINUOUS ACTION CENTRIFUGE Filed June 4, 1933 a INVENTOR Jiamklldaco by RNEY Aug. 13, 1940.

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. 13, 0- H. E. JACOBY 2,210,978

CONTINUOUS ACTION GEN TTTTT GE Patented Aug. 13, 1940 UNITED 'IST'ATES PATENT OFFICE v 2,210,978 CONTINUOUS ACTION CENTRIFUGE Harold Jacoby, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application June 4, 1938, Serial No. 211,739

10 Claims.

I have accordingly sought to provide apparatuswhich is relatively simple and inexpensive and which can be operated economically on various types of mixtures.

Accordingly I provide apparatus which continuously removes the liquid by well known hydrostatic methods and then having withdrawn 4 the liquid I remove the collected solids from the centrifuge while it is in motion.

The accompanying drawings show details of one form of apparatus involving my invention in which there is a rotating receptacle or basket I into which the liquid-suspendedsolids are introduced and from which the liquid continuously flows and the solids are ejected by centrifugal force.

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of one form =of apparatus involving my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of one half of the apparatus, the section being taken on the plane of the line 2- -2 of Fig. 1. j

Fig. 2a is a fragmentary section showing two wall elements in the position'of discharging the solids collected between them.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of one of the rotating elements on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a side view of one of the rotatable I elements. f

The receptacle is preferably mounted to rotate on a vertical axis and has a central shaft 5 with bottom and top plates 6 and 1, respectively, con-- nected by fins or guard plates 8, 8 and rotatable wall elements 9, 9, whose axes are parallel with the main axis of shaft 5. These Wall elements are provided with pockets l0, H! with projections H between them and the pockets may be deeper (radially) near or at the bottom than at the top. Each guard plate 8 is arcuate in section and extends around approximately one fourth of the circumference of the coacting wall element, one edge extending between adjacent wall elements.

Each wall element 9 may be made of suitable material and has a central shaft or pivot l2 supported in a bearing box 13 carried by the bottom plate 6. The upper end of element 9 I 5 carried by the top plate I.

The solid-liquid mixture is introduced into th receptacle through the tube I6 and discharged from outlets l1 near or at the bottom while the receptacle is rotating. The result is that the solids are thrown outwardly against the inner wall of the receptacle and the liquid rises and flows out through passage l8 and is discharged from the outlet l9. One or more baffles 20 may I be provided at dilferent levels to aid in ration.

The solids collect in the wedge shaped recesses 25 which exist between adjacent wall elements. When the solids collected afiord sufficient centrifugal force the wall elements rotate'from the position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig. 2a. so that the solids are moved from the inside of the wall to the outside and are thus thrown ofi into a suitable surrounding receptacle (notshown).

The base is preferably enclosed in a casing 26. In order to synchronize the action of the various wall elements and prevent unbalance and consequent interference with proper action, I may provide gears-2i or sprockets on the ends of the various wall elements and connect them by a chain or an annular gear 28. This may also provide means for positively rotating the elements at any time if desired.

. In some cases it may be necessary to provide means for controlling or regulating" the speed of rotation of the wall elements as for instance by a magnetic brake o-r clutch 30 carried by the shaft 5 which coacts with the ends of the wall elements. In starting the centrifuge enough electric current is provided to the brake to prevent the rotation of the members while a. layer of solid matter is the sepabeing built up on. them. Then the current is reduced enough to allow whatever speed of rotation of the members is desired. The slower these members rotate, the. longer the layer of solid matter against them is subjected to centrifugal force and hence the drier the solids will become. As the members slowly rotate they carry in their teetha certain amount of solid matter. When the members have rotated far enough so that the solid matter is now outside, this solid matter is immediately hurled out of the teeth. As the members continue to rotate they again contact solid matter on the inside and take on another load of solid matter.

I If a brake or clutch were not present the rotating members might tend to revolve too rapidly and could not be controlled. Under that circumstance the consistency of the separated solid matter could not be controlled and more important, it would become difiicult to set the centrifuge into operation. It is possible that if the rotating members were not interconnected one or more might tend to rotate at a different speed from the others. This would cause a serious unbalance in load and might lead to disastrous consequences.

The construction of the teeth on the face of each rotating member is dependent upon the type of suspension to be handled. Where varying particle size is obtained the depth of space between teeth must be varied according to the relative percentage of each different particle size. In the drawings, the depth is shown greatest at the base of the members and tapers off to nothing at the top. This indicates that the suspension to be handled is made up of solid matter containing a greater number of heavy large particles and a lesser number of fine light particles with uniform gradation in between these extremes, since the heavier particles settle out first and since the feed enters at the bottom of the basket, the depth of space between teeth on the rotating members is greatest at the base of these members and tapers off towards the top of the member in order to handle the few slow settling light and fine particles.

In view of the fact that the action is continuous there is very little chance for liquid to escape from between the adjacent rotating wall elements as the solids constantly collecting will keep the spaces between the adjacent wall elements substantially closed. Any liquid which does escape may of course be collected and returned to the centrifuge.

Although I prefer to provide for continuous operation certain advantages of my invention may be attained by omitting the guards 8, 8 and rtating the wall elements positively for instance by a chain and sprockets.

In such a case the solids will be collected on the entire inner wall of the basket by reason of its rotation. When a sufiicient layer of solids has been built up the wall elements are rotated each one half a turn so that the material in the inner pockets is moved to the outside and thrown off by centrifugal force.

It should be understood that the terms liquid and solid in a practical sense as used herein are relative terms. For instance the solids will usually contain some liquid and the liquid may contain some true solids. The heavier mass will be collected in the pockets between the movable wall elements of the receptacle and will be discharged or ejected through or from between the wall elements while the lighter mass capable of flowing will be discharged from the top of the receptacle.

l I intend that the terms of the claims shall be broadly construed within the proper scope as determined by the state of the art.

. I claim:

1. A centrifugal separator comprising a rotatable receptacle having a side wall composed of a number of circumferentially disposed rotatable elements on parallel axes having pockets, said pockets being deeper near the bottom than near the top for receiving solids and means for preventing solids from entering the pockets at one side of each element, each of said elements being rotatable by the centrifugal force of the solid material.

2. A centrifugal separator comprising a rotatable receptacle having a wall composed of a number of circumferentially disposed rotatable elements providing pockets for receiving solids and means for preventing solids from entering the pockets at one side of each element comprising an arcuate plate embracing respectively approximately one fourth of the circumference of each element, said plates in conjunction with the Walls of the adjacent elements forming wedge shaped recesses for receiving solids and causing the elements to revolve by certrifugal force, each of said elements being rotatable by the centrifugal force of the solid material.

3. A centrifugal separator comprisinga rotatable receptacle having a wall composed of a number of circumferentially disposed rotatable elements having pockets for receiving solids and plates for preventing solids from entering the pockets at one side of each element and forming Wedge shaped recesses with the points extending outwardly so that solids will collect in one side of each element and thereby rotate the same, each of said elements being rotatable by the centrifugal force of the solid material.

4 A centrifugal separator comprising a rotatable receptacle having a side wall composed of a number, of circumferentially disposed rotatable elements. having pockets for receiving solids, said pockets being deeper near the bottom of the elements than near the top, means for preventing solids from entering the pockets at one side of each element so that'solids will collect in one side of each element and thereby cause centrifugal action to set up unequal moments of force upon the two opposite sides of each element whereby the unidirectional rotation of said element will be determined independently of any other external forces acting thereupon.

5. A centrifugal separator comprising a rotatable receptacle having its side wall composed of a number of circumferentially disposed movable elements having pockets for receiving solids, means for preventing solids from entering the pockets at one side of each element comprising arcuate plates embracing respectively a portion of the circumference of each element and forming in conjunction with the adjacent element a wedge shaped recess pointing outwardly so that the material collected in said recesses will rotate the elements automatically by centrifugal force of the collected material and gear mechanism for controlling the motion of the elements.

6. Acentrifugal separator comprising a receptacle rotatable about a vertical axis and having its wall structure composed of a number of elementsrotatable on vertical axes, each element being in approximate contact with two adjacent elements. and each having pockets along its circumference, a plate covering the pocket on one face of each element and forming in conjunction with the adjacent element a wedge shaped recess, means for admitting the liquid-solid mixture to the receptacle near the bottom, means for discharging the liquid from the upper part of the receptacle, said elements being rotatable directly by the centrifugal force of the material collected in said recesses to discharge the solids outwardly frombetween the elements.

'7. A centrifuge comprising a receptacle having a bottom plate and a top ring with a number of cylindrical members rotatably supported in the bottom plate and top ring and constituting the side wall of the receptacle, adjacent members being close together but with guard plates between adjacent members forming wedge shaped recesses so as to provide pockets for collecting material between the members so that when the elements by centrifugal force of said material rotate the material collected in-the recesses will pass to the outside from between the members, said guard plates being positioned on one side of a line joining the centre of rotation of the centrifuge and the centres of rotation of the respective cylindrical members whereby thevcollected material will cause the production of moments of force unbalanced with respect to the respective centres of said cylindrical memberswhen the centrifuge is in operation thereby causing the rotation of said a 9. In a centrifugal separator of the type discharging solids through the circumferential wall thereof, means for bringing about such discharge including a plurality of circumferentially and rotatably disposed cylindrical members, each pro-- vided with a plurality of longitudinally disposed pockets substantially symmetrically arranged about the axis of the member, said cylindrical members together forming the circumferential wall of the separator and lying closely contiguous one another, guard members discrete from said cylindrical members including substantially arouate shields each disposed on one side of 'a radius of saidseparator passing through the axis of a cylindrical member and each embracing substantially 90, of the circumferential wallof its corresponding cylindrical member and being fixed relative to the rotation ofsaid 'cylindrical member whereby upon operation of the separator solids collect by centrifugal force substantially only in'the pocket of each cylindrical member which is open tot-he interior of the separator and which is not shielded and whereby such collection of solids will cause unbalanced rotative torque about the axis of said cylindrical member so as to cause said member to rotate independently of any other energy source and to transfer said collected solids from the inside to the outside of the separator.

10. A centrifugal separator for acting upon a mixture containing solid particles of varying size and Weight including an outer circumferential Wall at least partly formed of rotatable cylinders for discharging'said particles laterally from the separator, said cylinders being provided with vertically extending pockets in their circumfereential surfaces for the deposit'therein of said solid particles, said pockets being tapered so as to hold more solid material per linear unit of length near one end thereof than near the other end whereby more space is afforded for the deposit of the particles of predominating size and weight in said mixture than for the deposit of s 

